The field of the invention is item shipping, in particular, technological solutions for item shipping.
Recent years have seen a large growth in the shipping of items, whether by the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”), The United Parcel Service (“UPS”), FedEx, or other companies such as local courier services. As businesses become more and more interstate and international, people move further and further from home, and ecommerce grows, the shipping of items is likely to increase even more. However, despite the growth of item shipping, it currently requires a shipper to engage in a large number of steps. A shipper must:    (1) obtain packaging;    (2) put the item to be shipped in the packaging;    (3) close and secure the packaging (e.g., using shipping tape);    (4) obtain the recipient's address;    (5) create a label with the recipient's address;    (6) pay;    (7) obtain proof of payment (e.g., a stamp);    (8) affix the label and proof of payment to the packaging; and    (9) drop the package off at a drop off point, such as a post office.
In recent years, web and smartphone apps have greatly increased the efficiency of a number of types of transactions. Apps such as PayPal and Venmo allow users to send money to a recipient by email address or username, for example (resulting in increased efficiency versus, e.g., mailing a check, which requires more steps). However, comparable ease-of-use increases have not been realized for shipping items. There are indeed apps that relate to item shipping, such as Shyp, but these apps simply offload one or more of the above steps to third parties for hire; they do not actually reduce the number of steps (i.e., they do not result in a more efficient process).
Technology has also resulted in increases in privacy for a range of transactions. For example, email and in particular, encrypted email, has increased privacy in messaging. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin have increased privacy in value exchange. However, item shipping still requires a name and an address to be publicly visible on a package's exterior. Anybody who intercepts a package can know who and where it is intended for.
There is a need for a system and method for shipping an item that reduces the number of steps involved in the physical process and protects shipper and recipient privacy. The present invention is such a system and method.